The need for high purity gases, such as hydrogen, is growing in the chemical process industries, e.g., in steel annealing, silicon manufacturing, hydrogenation of fats and oils, glass making, hydrocracking, methanol production, the production of oxo alcohols, and isomerization processes. This growing demand requires the development of highly efficient separation processes for H2 production from various feed mixtures. In order to obtain highly efficient PSA separation processes, both the capital and operating costs of the PSA system must be reduced.
One way of reducing PSA system cost is to decrease the adsorbent inventory and number of beds in the PSA process. In addition, further improvements may be possible using advanced cycles and adsorbents in the PSA process. However, H2 feed gas contains several contaminants, e.g. a feed stream may contain CO2 (20% to 25%) and minor amounts of H20 (<0.5%), CH4 (<3%), CO (<1%) and N2 (<1%). Such a combination of adsorbates at such widely varying compositions presents a significant challenge to efficient adsorbent selection, adsorbent configuration in the adsorber, and the choices of individual adsorbent layers and multiple adsorbent bed systems to obtain an efficient H2-PSA process.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,380 B1 relates to a gas separation apparatus and process that has a first PSA unit for receiving feed gas which comprises a first and a second component. First PSA unit produces first product gas predominantly containing the first component, and the first off gas containing at least some of the first component and second component. A compressor is coupled to a first PSA unit to compress first off gas to form compressed off gas, which is passed downstream to an absorber unit, which employs a solvent to remove at least part of the second component from compressed off gas, forming an enriched compressed off gas. Second PSA unit receives enriched compressed off gas and produces second product gas which predominantly contains the first component and a second off gas that is sent to waste or reformer burner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,143 B1 relates to a process that provides for simultaneously producing a syngas product having a H2/CO ratio of less than 2.5 and a hydrogen gas product. The process includes increasing an amount of carbon dioxide being fed to a secondary reformer with carbon dioxide extracted from: (a) an effluent from a primary reformer and (b) an effluent from the secondary reformer. An apparatus for performing the process is also provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,299 B2 relates to a two bed PSA process for recovering a primary gaseous component at a purity of over 99% from a feed gas comprising the primary component and one or more impurities. One such process includes: (a) passing the feed gas through a first adsorption bed to remove one or more impurities; (b) conducting a PSA cycle in the first bed; (c) separately passing effluent gases from the first bed into at least two separate tanks for subsequent purging and pressurization of the beds; (d) storing a gas mixture in the first of the tanks containing the primary component in a concentration higher than the concentration of the primary component in the gas mixture in the second of the tanks; (e) refluxing the mixture of the primary component from the second tank in the first adsorption bed during the regeneration steps therein; (f) refluxing the mixture of the primary component from the first tank in the first adsorption bed during the regeneration steps therein; (g) simultaneously and non-concurrently performing steps (a) to (f) in a second bed; and (h) recovering the product gas stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,382 B1 relates to a PSA process for purifying a synthesis gas stream containing from 60 to 90 mole % hydrogen and impurities such as C02, CH4, N2, and CO. The PSA process of this disclosure further provides a method of adsorbing substantially all of the nitrogen and other contaminants from the feed gas stream; wherein the feed stream is passed at superatmospheric pressure through a plurality of adsorbent beds and each adsorbent bed contains at least a CaX, LiA, LiX or calcium containing mixed cation zeolite having a SiO2/Al2, O3 mole ratio of 2.0–2.5. Such process involves sequentially pressurizing, depressurizing, purging and repressurizing the adsorbent beds with product hydrogen, and recovering product hydrogen in purities of 99.9% or greater from the beds.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,813 B2 relates to a gas stream containing one or more gaseous impurities from the group formed by carbon dioxide, water vapor, H25, alcohols, SO2 and C1–C8 saturated or unsaturated, linear, branched or cyclic hydrocarbons which is brought into contact with several different porous carbon adsorbents, that is to say active carbons having different properties and characteristics. The gas is air, nitrogen, hydrogen produced by the reforming or cracking of ammonia or the combustion gas or fermentation gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,001 B2 relates to a PSA apparatus and process for the production of purified hydrogen from a feed gas stream containing heavy hydrocarbons (i.e., hydrocarbons having at least six carbons). The apparatus comprises at least one bed containing at least three layers. The layered adsorption zone contains a feed end with a low surface area adsorbent (20 to 400 m2/g) which comprises 2 to 20% of the total bed length followed by a layer of an intermediate surface area adsorbent (425 to 800 m2/g) which comprises 25 to 40% of the total bed length and a final layer of high surface area adsorbent (825 to 2000 m2/g) which comprises 40 to 78% of the total bed length.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,549 relates to a process for adsorbing carbon dioxide from a carbon dioxide containing gas mixture comprising contacting the gas mixture with an activated carbon adsorbent having a density in the range of approximately 0.56 to 0.61 g/cc (35 to 38 lbs./ft3) and adsorbing the carbon dioxide on the activated carbon adsorbent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,247 relates to a process for recovering hydrogen from dilute refinery off gases using a vacuum swing adsorption process having a simultaneous cocurrent depressurization to provide a purge gas for another bed under the influence of a vacuum and countercurrent depressurization to vent void space gas and/or adsorbed gas to ambient.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,838 B1 relates to a PSA process includes providing a PSA apparatus having six beds, and equalizing a pressure of each of the six beds in four steps, wherein at all times during the process, at least one of the six beds is providing off gas. The process is particularly suitable for purifying hydrogen from a feed gas mixture containing hydrogen and at least one of the methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen and water vapor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,431 B1 relates to a PSA process including an adsorption apparatus having a plurality of beds and countercurrently purging at least two of the beds simultaneously throughout the process. The number of beds and number of pressure equalization steps are not particularly limited, but a ten-bed, four pressure equalization step process is advantageous. In addition, other ten-bed, four pressure equalization step processes are disclosed which do not countercurrently purge at least two of the beds simultaneously, but which have an average of at least two of the ten beds being simultaneously regenerated by simultaneously providing off gas from a feed end of each of the beds to an off gas line.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,422 relates to a process for the separation of the hydrogen contained in a gas mixture contaminated by carbon monoxide and containing at least one other impurity chosen from the group consisting of carbon dioxide and saturated or unsaturated, linear, branched or cyclic C1–C8 hydrocarbons, comprising bringing the gas mixture to be purified into contact, in an adsorption region, with at least:
one first adsorbent selective at least for carbon dioxide and for C1–C8 hydrocarbons and
one second adsorbent which is a zeolite of faujasite type exchanged to at least 80% with lithium, the Si/Al ratio of which is less than 1.5, in order to remove at least carbon monoxide (CO).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,466 B1 relates to a process which overcomes historical limitations to the capacity of PSA units for a wide variety of gas separations. Capacities in excess of about 110 thousand normal cubic meters per hour (100 million standard cubic feet per day) can now be achieved in a single integrated process train. The corresponding significant equipment reduction results from a departure from the accepted principle in the PSA arts that the length of the purge step must be equal to or less than the length of the adsorption step. By increasing the purge time relative to the adsorption step combined with supplying the purge gas for any adsorption bed in the train from one or more other adsorption beds and during the provide-purge step, the other adsorption beds simultaneously provide the purge gas to essentially all adsorption beds undergoing the purge step, that the single train can provide for significant increases in capacity with a minimum loss in recovery or performance. The benefit of this discovery is that very large-scale PSA units can now be constructed as a single train of equipment for a cost significantly lower than the cost of two or more parallel trains of equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,010 relates to a method for increasing product recovery or reducing the size of steam methane reformer and pressure swing adsorption systems utilized for hydrogen production. A significant portion of the hydrogen in the PSA depressurization and purge effluent gas, which is otherwise burned as fuel in the reformer, is recovered and recycled to the PSA system to provide additional high purity hydrogen product. This is accomplished by processing selected portions of the depressurization and purge effluent gas in adsorbent membrane separators to increase hydrogen content for recycle to the PSA system. Remaining portions of the depressurization and purge effluent gas which contain lower concentrations of hydrogen are utilized for fuel value in the reformer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,418 relates to an adiabatic pressure swing process for selectively adsorbing components such as carbon dioxide, water and light aliphatic hydrocarbons from admixture with hydrogen gas is provided by at least four adsorbent beds joined in a particular flow sequence.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,816 relates to a PSA process for separation of gas mixtures in which at least four adsorbent beds are joined so that the adsorbate loaded bed is pressure equalized with two other beds in staged sequence.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,451 B2 relates to a compact multiple bed PSA apparatus to produce a high concentration of oxygen efficiently and at minimum noise levels by using inactive pressurized adsorber beds to purge adsorbed nitrogen.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,607 B1 relates to a PSA process for the separation of a pressurized feed gas containing at least one more strongly adsorbable component and at least one less strongly adsorbable component. The process comprises (a) introducing the pressurized feed gas into a feed end of an adsorber bed containing one or more solid adsorbents which preferentially adsorb the more strongly adsorbable component and withdrawing from a product end of the adsorber bed a first adsorber effluent gas enriched in the less strongly adsorbable component, wherein the first adsorber effluent gas is utilized as final product gas; (b) terminating the introduction of the pressurized feed gas into the adsorber bed while withdrawing from the product end of the adsorber bed a second adsorber effluent gas enriched in the less strongly adsorbable component, wherein the pressure in the adsorber bed decreases while the second adsorber effluent gas is utilized as additional final product gas; (c) depressurizing the adsorber bed to a minimum bed pressure by withdrawing additional gas therefrom; (d) repressurizing the adsorber bed by introducing repressurization gas into the bed, wherein at least a portion of the repressurization gas is provided by pressurized feed gas; and (e) repeating steps (a) through (d) in a cyclic manner. No final product gas is required for purge or repressurization in the process cycle steps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,075 relates to a method for recovering nitrogen from air in a three bed vacuum swing adsorption technique in which the beds are not rinsed with nitrogen gas before recovering a nitrogen recycle stream and a nitrogen product.
An object of the present invention is to provide a multiple bed PSA system, preferably a three bed PSA system, that can process a continuous impurity gas stream to produce a high purity gas component without the use of storage tanks for collecting void gases during pressure changing steps in the PSA cycle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a compact three bed PSA system that can operate with continuous supply gas at lower adsorption pressures, lower bed size factor (bsf) and lower capital cost relative to prior art PSA processes.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel three bed PSA system for the production of hydrogen from a continuous impure gas stream containing hydrogen as a component.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.